Seek Justice

Caritas Just Leadership Day

Did you know that only 13% of Australians agreed with the statement that they trusted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders?I discovered this shocking statistic when I attended the Caritas Just Leadership workshop on 11 May with seven other Year 10 students. It was centred on the theme of Reconciliation and was also attended by Year 10 students from many other Catholic schools around Perth. The day was organised with the help of the ICEA foundation (Indigenous Communities Education & Awareness) that aims to promote Reconciliation inspired by young people. ICEA representatives spoke to us about a number of different topics including promoting positive communities, the problems of prejudice and stereotyping, and understanding indigenous culture better. It helped me to better define what racism is, what it looks like in our society today and what we can do in our community to fight it. ICEA also encouraged us to hold a variety of events in our school.Overall it was a really great day that broadened my horizons and helped me to see what I could do to help with this important issue.Alice Archer Yr 10

Sorry Day Thursday 26 May

The first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998 - one year after the tabling of the report Bringing them Home, May 1997. The report was the result of an inquiry by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission into the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families.

In 1992 Prime Minister Keating acknowledged that 'we took the children from their mothers' at a speech in Redfern. These children who were removed came to be known as the Stolen Generations.

As a community we acknowledged our history with a screening at lunchtime in the Chapel on Thursday 26 May of "Taking the Children: WA's Stolen Generation".

The first step towards Reconciliation is acknowledging that past laws, practices and policies affected the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, often having devastating immediate impacts and causing much of the disadvantage that exists today.

Nine Year 9 students attended the Sorry Day event in Wellington Square.

Reconciliation Week

Reconciliation Week begins on Friday 27 May.

27 May is the anniversary of the 1967 referendum in which more than 90 per cent of Australians voted 'Yes' to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the census and give the Australian Government the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Christian Thompson provided some Reconciliation inspired music at lunchtime on Friday and the Primary campus hosted two Aboriginal artists who worked with the students to produce a Reconciliation inspired mural.